Theatre Review: The Wider Earth

In 1831, Charles Darwin joined the crew of the HMS Beagle on a voyage around the world. This journey would shape the young Darwin’s inquisitive mind and provide the inspiration needed to write his famous book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, which would go on to shape our understanding of modern evolutionary theory and underpin biological science. The Wider Earth is an ambitious play from David Morton which brings Darwin’s escapades to the stage in a visually striking fashion.

The Wider Earth kicks off in Darwin’s hometown of Cambridge, where we meet a young Charles. Whilst he is clearly a bright and enthusiastic naturalist, his father is starting to lose patience with his head in the clouds attitude and wants him to settle down and join the clergy. But when a once in a lifetime opportunity to take a voyage around the world comes knocking, Charles leaps at the chance to prove once and for all that there is a good living to be made from pursuing his passions of chasing bugs and describing animals.

Darwin describing the ancient Glyptodon, a distant relative of the modern armadillo – photo by Mark Douet,

Multiple and varied locations are always something of a challenge when it comes to the stage. In the case of The Wider Earth, portraying numerous locales from across the globe is accomplished by means of a revolving stage, which essentially gives the production two stages for the price of one; one for outdoor scenes and one for indoors, with everything from lush jungles to the cabins of a creaky navy vessel, recreated in convincing fashion. It is clear that the stage crew ran a very tight ship on this one (if you’ll excuse the pun), with props being switched around seamlessly between scenes.

On the subject of props, the various animals which Darwin encounters on his expedition are represented by highly stylised puppetry. While the creatures themselves look striking and move in a very convincing fashion, the presence of cast members on stage carrying out the puppeteering is somewhat jarring at first, as a man in a fine suit can be seen waving his arms nearby while Charles chases a pair of butterflies. While this is just one of those things that needs to be ignored when watching a play, puppeteers that don’t stand out so much from the backdrops would be appreciated. It is also worth noting that some of the animals are presented quite low to the ground, so can be difficult for audience members who are not in tiered seating to see at times.

Truly, there must be a better way to bring animals to the stage than this – photo by Mark Douet,

The Wider Earth‘s music fits the piece exceptionally well, and is rather catchy, as it evokes the sense of wonder that one would imagine a brilliant up-and-coming naturalist would experience on such a fantastic journey. Leading a cast of seven, Bradley Foster is most affable as the young Darwin, presenting his character with a boundless enthusiasm. While The Wider Earth is something of an audial treat, a word of warning to those who wish to attend a matinée: during busy periods in the museum, a not insignificant amount of crowd noise comes through the emergency exit on the right hand side (stage left) of the auditorium, which can be quite distracting for patrons seated in the nearby floor level seats.

While The Wider Earth presents the early days of Charles Darwin’s foray into evolutionary biology, and the sometimes clashing themes of science and religion, in an easily digested and oft beautiful fashion, certain onstage limitations and oversights prevent it from being a truly great play.

The Wider Earth will run in London’s Natural History Museum until December 30th.
Tickets are available here.

Sean is Geek Ireland's resident dinosaur enthusiast, having been fascinated by prehistory since a time before he could read, speak or stand in an upright position (he still struggles to do at least one of these things on a daily basis).
Known as one of the biggest dinosaur fans Ireland has ever produced, Sean has delivered talks on his favourite subject at many venues and events including the Irish Film Institute, the UCD Science Expression Festival, Tayto Park, Dublin Comic Con and even London's Comedy Store.